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The Adjustment Bureau

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Anthony Mackie
Directed By: George Nolfi
Screenplay by: George Nolfi
Based on the short story "The Adjustment Team" by Philip K. Dick

    Wouldn't it be kind of freaky if there was a group of people who could play God with everyone's life?  This is exactly the situation in "The Adjustment Bureau".
    David Norris (Matt Damon) is a congressman from New York running for Senate at the very beginning of the film.  On election night, he meets Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt), a British ballerina trying to make it big in New York.  This isn't in the plan for either of them.  Once they meet, they're never supposed to see each other again.  When Norris finds out about this group of god-playing people called the adjustment bureau, he's not allowed under any circumstances to reveal anything about the group.  Otherwise, all his memories will be erased.  Will Norris be able to be with the person he loves, or will the Adjustment Bureau intervene to make sure they both stay on track with their plan for Norris and Elise?
    One of the cool things about this film is that it combines three different genres that don't really go together; romance, conspiracy, and sci-fi.  However, these genres fit together almost perfectly in this story.  There's a lot of back and forth though.  It seems to switch from Norris vs. the adjustment bureau to Norris and Elise every fifteen minutes or so until the climax when Norris decides to take matters into his own hands to try to avoid the bureau while staying with Elise.  This is where everything comes together.  While I think it's cool that these three genres are combined to create a well developed film, it seems to be unable to decide what kind of film it is.  Is it a sci-fi film, a romance film, or a conspiracy film?
     Matt Damon like always, delivers an excellent performance at the same type of role he always plays.  He's the guy who's running away from some huge plot that affects his life in some major way, and in this case, it's his free will that's at stake.  He might lose the ability to control his own life.  The same goes for Emily Blunt.  She also delivers an excellent performance as she always does.  The two are excellent on screen together.  The large amount of chemistry between them shows on the screen.  I also like how the adjustment bureau characters act like a mob who doesn't want anyone to find out what they're doing or that they even exist and control the world.
      It seems like having someone breathing down one's neck like the people in "The Adjustment Bureau" would make anyone cringe.  The film attempts to answer an interesting question that's bothered just about everyone for as long as humans have been in existence, do we have free will or is our fate pre- determined?  Overall, it's a pretty good film considering its comprised of three genres that don't always go together very well, until now.  It's a great date movie because it has the romance that some people will want, but it also has the science fiction and conspiracy stuff that will attract just about anyone.
My grade:  B+ (this is my new system in case you haven't yet read my updated welcome bar at the top)

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